The second day of the transnational seminar for the European BIO4RES project included a field visit to the Villar\u00f3 estate, in the municipality of Lladurs (Solson\u00e8s), where participants were able to see first-hand forestry management practices aimed at fire prevention and adaptation to climate change.<\/p>\n
The visit was led by Gerard Alcoverro Valls, a technician at the Centre for Forest Science and Technology of Catalonia (CTFC), who explained the work carried out on this private property by the Forestry Cooperative of Catalonia, with the support of sustainable forest management grants from the Government of Catalonia.<\/p>\n
During the tour, measures aimed at improving the forest structure were demonstrated, such as the removal of lower-value trees and the selection of future trees, with the aim of promoting their growth and increasing the stability of the forest ecosystem.<\/p>\n
The differentiated use of biomass was also explained: on the one hand, the extraction of timber with commercial value and, on the other, the chipping of unusable biomass \u2014 into pieces of approximately half a metre \u2014 to facilitate its integration into the soil and help improve its organic quality.<\/p>\n
As Alcoverro highlighted, this type of action \u201cenables the forest to adapt to climate change and makes it more resilient to future disturbances\u201d, whilst reducing the accumulation of forest fuel, one of the key factors in the spread of fires.<\/p>\n
The visit allowed those attending the seminar to observe first-hand how active forest management, supported by public policies, becomes a fundamental tool for moving towards more resilient and sustainable landscapes.<\/p>\n